Guild Wars 2

I do stuff with others if I see them. I just don’t feel the need to invite or be invited. Which was clearly a design decision from the getgo, that you can just show up and do stuff with others without needing to officially group with them.

For me I have a wonky schedule, wouldn’t be fair to others.
Work 50 + hrs. wk
Taking a couple college classes in the evenings.
Taking care of a sick family member
I’m also the kind of person that needs to learn all the in’s & out’s of a game.
So with that being said I’ll help someone when they ask, also the guild I’m currently in seems pretty good and should you need help with something all you’d have to do is ask.

I’m a caregiver, therefore I AFK. A lot. Sometimes for a long time, upwards of fifteen minutes. Sometimes with little to no warning.

Haven’t met too many folks willing to put up with that.

So, it’s the solo life for me, playwise. I get my RDA of socialization from map chat and guild chat.

Unrelated tangent: It occurs to me that Recommended Daily Allowance has the same ‘initials’ as Richard Dean Anderson. Who I would not mind getting socialization from, either.

Watashi wa soro pureia desu (sorry, bad SAO reference)

But yeah, I’m a solo player. I barely ever join a team, I just rather go my own way joining in on the random fights on the map or w/e

I only join guilds to have random talks or to start random talks, not necessary ‘to do’ stuff.

I play alone because there’s no rhyme or reason to where I’m going or what I’m doing. It’s one of the things I really love about this game. Add to that I have an 8-year old running around, so I can end up being away from my screen for long periods of time, sometimes like for the rest of the night.

I for one sure don’t. But ever zone that’s not a level 80 one has been a wasteland.

If that doesn’t change I’m asking for a refund because it’s a MMO without the multiplayer.

ecad.9085:

Why do most of you prefer to play alone?

Because people are weird and/or do things differently to me so I prefer to play with people I already know rather than with random people.

There really is no need to group (apart from karma zergs where it is worth it)… but mob tagging here is not like other MMO’s. You can play with others while you’re all doing the same thing and just move on when you’re done or just when you feel like it and no-one has to wait for you to make coffee, get a sandwich, eat dinner, bio, let the dog out, answer the door etc etc….

The game provides events/tasks specifically desigend for both solo and group.

Solo – Heart Events, Vistas, POI
Group – Dungeon, Meta-Events

Like many others I like to do things at my own pace. Grouping for dungeons is pretty fun, and finding random zergs to take down mobs with is fun also. I usually answer map chat requests for help taking down champions/group events, too. But when out doing renown hearts, gathering etc I much prefer to be soloing. That way nobody slows anybody else down, whereas in group events &c a group is actually speeding things up instead.

I party most often for party chat rather than actually running together, with people I know. That way we can still run off and do our thing and then notify each other of ongoing DEs for the others to join in.

Honestly, I’m usually taking a break from the social part of the game(WvW/instances), when I am out in the world… and I’m admittedly halfheartedly ‘roleplaying’ in this roleplaying game, somewhat

And you know, I’m paying attention to all the stuff the devs put in, not just maximizing my XP intake, which sounds like a kitten way to play the game. Grouping up with some unknown (and usually playing like they have ADHD) person who wants to plow through content doesn’t sound fun.

And I’m sorry if I don’t always want to group with people named ‘Who Wants Some Wang’ or ‘Snausages’ or even worse usually.

I am a nurse in the Real World. I spend all of my work life trying to care for and satisfy total strangers. The last thing I want to do in my free time is more of the same.

I play GW2 because I love the game. I love crafting, questing, exploring, and on occasion, running a dungeon with my guild mates, whom I have played with for years. If there is a dynamic event going on, I can choose whether or not I participate.

Most of the time though, I prefer to do my own thing on my own schedule. I have to live by other people’s schedules every moment of my work day. I don’t like to do the same thing in a game.

I actually enjoy playing with others, even though I am introverted. I am not too chatty but like to help out guildies AND perfect strangers. I have no problem waiting for others to reapir armor/salvage stuff/sell junk. It’s just a game, and enjoying another player’s company is part of the game’s fun for me. In fact, I am not playing that much as of late because my guild needs to re-group, and I don’t enjoy the playing experience solo all the time as much (even though my main is a Guardian who has no trouble surviving most of what Orr throws at her.) Also, since my main is said Guardian, I like to support others other than myself, and it’s hard to do solo (though it’s fun to help out random NPCs.) Finally, most of my builds are not DPS heavy, so I always appreciate the extra firepower so things go by faster/smoother.

TBH, one can play this game whichever way you please (there are options for most preferences out there), but I have found the game is way more fun when in groups/parties/or even with an additional random stranger helping you out. Not everybody is overly chatty, so if that is a concern, just be aware of the different type of personality types out there, as not everybody parties up just to socialize-perhaps they just want to really play the game with you, and contribute towards a similar goal. Even two players make the game WAY more fun, especially fighting the tougher mobs (Orr wasn’t designed for solo play, IMHO, even though I could theoretically solo most of the stuff.)

I have had a blast finding random strangers to help out. I play more to cooperate rather than compete, so most of the game really appeals to me on that regard (I am utterly ignoring Fractals of the Mist at the moment, as I don’t like its current divisive/pro-“top player” draw.) I honestly don’t mind getting my Guardian in harm’s way so I can help someone escape/survive some difficult encounter-all the more fun for me, quite honestly.

(This is why I don’t relate to those who complain about others bringing Orr mobs to them while running away. Bring them on! I shall slay them all while these players flee to safety. ^^ Though I wish they stayed to fight them with me, but I guess they are understandably afraid of zombies. :P)

I have a pretty exacting play style that usually doesn’t mesh well with others. Typically I will go to a Heart, explore all of the surrounding map around the Heart (including POI’s, Skill Challenges and Vistas) while killing all hostile creatures in the area, gather up all available resources, and then go back and do the Heart if still necessary. If a DE pops up while I’m doing the above, I do it. Then I move on to the next Heart and repeat.

Most players I’ve seen tend to follow DE’s across the map, going out of their way only to harvest resources they need, and waypointing whenever somebody calls out that a popular DE is up. Since I only do DE’s if I’m in the nearby area, that often means that my party is quickly broken up, and people usually don’t understand when I say that I don’t want to WP halfway across the map just to do a DE.

As such, I only group up if there’s a real need to do so, like going into a dungeon or in crazy events like the Lost Shores finale where it was impossible to gain any kill credit on your own.

in all honesty, I am gonna say it’s because of all the real kitten in the game, the smack talkers, the people who go way out of their way to grieve people and belittle them, talk crap about their gear, their level, their playstyle…etc. They are everywhere, especially in pvp (that’s just the way it is) and these folks are always the ones to ruin it for somene who might have otherwise come around to the idea of playing an mmo with other folks they don’t know.

It took em a very long time to get over it, but imho I didn’t spend money to play a game and NOT enjoy it, so if I had to do so alone, then so be it. That’s why my clan is made of people I know in real life, we can really cut loose and be ourselves.

Again, this is just one side of the issue, I am sure this isn’t the case for everyone.

honestly because the grouping and chat interface in this game kinda angers me and I’d rather not deal with it

crimsonbro.3126:

ecad.9085:

Iam constantly asking people to team with me when I’m levelin up in areas and doing hearts etc…. only like 1 in 10 people wants too… but why??

It is soo much faster and easier to level up when ur in team instead of going at it alone. Also much more fun imo. Why so many lone-players?

I usually only play with my wife. Erm…in game that is. But I love to help people out here IF I can. Getting swamped, I’ll hop in. Doing events? I’m game. Need an answer? I’ll whisper it if I know it. DE? Heck yeah. But as for grouping up? Sadly, my net likes to DQ me and depending on where the group is, I may or may not be able to get back. So I am nothing but dead weight.

I don’t want to drag anyone down with my crapnet if it decides to misbehave and sometimes, DQing at just the right moment is a terrible terrible thing.

At least going solo, while helping when I see someone doing something I can help with, I’m not a bother. Oh yeah, I’m also a horrendous typer when I’m trying to play so my words get very scrambled. Seriously.

my wife and i play mostly together in-game (and out), too. have to say we were so excited about gw2. the idea we might have finally got into some dungeons without having to join raiding guilds was what really had us amped up.

we both work in customer service industries (i’m in it support) and so we kind of are well over the idea of melodramatic hissy fits and rude demands. but we love the big open worlds and my wife’s a huge fan of economics, so loves markets.

I used to raid, run with groups, etc. all the time back in the day. I look back now and see how it made me obligated all the time to a video game. I like being able to afk whenever I want an not having to be committed to anything in game. Dungeons are about the biggest obligation I will make as far as non stop playing and even with that I wish I could hit a queue button be grouped and get the dungeon done.

I’m not anti social I just want to get stuff done at my speed and pace and have total control over when I can afk or just instantly log off.

I mostly enjoy relaxing behind the tv walking around in GW2 world exploring. I party friends but we spread out a lot usually, its more for the chat. If I would party with a random in this after-work-tired-state I would feel obligated to do real stuff instead of chilling, and so only in the weekends I would go and make real parties and usually to do dungeons or story. Think parties are no necessesity in this game and people prefer to be free

pacing mostly. by myself i can go heart to heart and point to point and get things done really quickly on my own, another person doesnt really speed that up much if at all and you’ve got to wait for them and such. plus it gives you some kind of urgency like you need to be there for them so cant take short breaks whenever you want.

I group all the time but find it largely useless. No one knows how to press T when I call a freaking target, and then people complain that mobs / dungeon mobs have too much HP. They really don’t imo. You can mow most of the mobs down by focusing on them. I can’t count how many times I’ve called out monks and people just ignore it completely, I’m one little thief chipping away. It makes a world of difference with a good leader, and good team mates.

I know you are talking about general open world but it also counts for Orr. You may be in a party, but people are still in the solo state of mind. They need to get out of that. The lack of trinity has only made this worse imo.

The lack of the trinity freed the people from being forced into parties and they can now do as they want. And personally, if someone is too much about correctly targeting and if they get all worked up about the way I play I get tired really fast. It is the major reason to solo unless some one is a friend or guild member I know. Many times these players also quit in the middle of a dungeon and are the worst pugs who put the whole party on edge (and quit)

^ What Beren said. When I am leveling, I want to do it solo mostly…Its quicker and I can go whereever i want when I want without having to wait on friends or other people, because they don’t want to waypoint or want to do other things.

beren.6048:

The lack of the trinity freed the people from being forced into parties and do as they want. And personally, if someone is too much about correctly targeting and if they get all worked up about the way I play I get tired really fast. It is the major reason to solo unless some one is a friend or guild member I know. Many times these players also quit in the middle of a dungeon and are the worst pugs who put the whole party on edge (and quit)

This is why I never mention how bad the players are doing. If I say “hey, you can press T and focus my target..” I feel they will take it the wrong way and retort with some drama which always happened in WoW or GW1 when I tried to give tips. Everyone assumes elitism, etc. “but let me play my way, ugh.” to which I will reply “but, you’re hindering the party…”

It’s even worse when I tell people to dodge certain abilities “shut up kid some of us have lives” etc. the typical reply from baddies, so now I just hop from group to group hoping to find a good one, and this includes guilds.

Sure, play your way when you are alone, but in a group, why not work towards a unified goal together efficiently? It makes zero sense to join a group and play solo imo.

Rukia.4802:

Everyone assumes elitism, etc. “but let me play my way, ugh.” to which I will reply “but, you’re hindering the party…”

It’s even worse when I tell people to dodge certain abilities “shut up kid some of us have lives” etc. the typical reply from baddies, so now I just hop from group to group hoping to find a good one, and this includes guilds.

Sure, play your way when you are alone, but in a group, why not work towards a unified goal together efficiently? It makes zero sense to join a group and play solo imo.

Yes, it all depends how tolerant you are for them forgetting to press T once in a while. If you say they never do, or they go without armor or they die all the time even when you tell them where the traps are etc. thats something else. However a player commenting on every single action made by his party can be just as damaging as a newbie. It makes people annoyed and they ll start making mistakes because they rush to finish with this annoyance and it ends with the elitist stating that you are all noobs, quits the party and you all loose repair cost for no reason.

And so, on the subject, thats why I don’t do dungeons during the week and I prefer solo most of the time.

I do group with people sometimes in the open world when they ask for help. Sometimes I help, but do not group with the people that ask for help. And rarely I group with people for doing hearts and skillpoints etc but it mostly ends up with them running off to somewhere else. Now if I join a group that says “lets do this” and then they do something completely different and run off in random directions.. thats annoying. Thats another reason I dont group for open world aside from the whole “In my own time/pace/whatever”.

There is no need for me to group up, since i don’t do dungeons and i don’t see a point in grouping for DEs

Rukia.4802:

I group all the time but find it largely useless. No one knows how to press T when I call a freaking target, and then people complain that mobs / dungeon mobs have too much HP. They really don’t imo. You can mow most of the mobs down by focusing on them. I can’t count how many times I’ve called out monks and people just ignore it completely, I’m one little thief chipping away. It makes a world of difference with a good leader, and good team mates.

I know you are talking about general open world but it also counts for Orr. You may be in a party, but people are still in the solo state of mind. They need to get out of that. The lack of trinity has only made this worse imo.

I don’t miss the Trinity at all. Best thing to ever happen to a game.

I just got this game, have it downloading in my dorm room now, whether its faster or not I’ll always look for groups. I think it’s more about the experience than how fast I can level up and get the best gear. Look me up in game sometime if anyone wants too.

For the most part it is faster to complete hearts and level generally if you follow someone around.

Generally I do grouping via ad-hoc you are doing the same thing i’m doing, but no I wont join your party or ask you to join mine.

Some examples: Generally mobs die faster when 2 people attack them
Generally you can clear mobs away from a skill point faster with 2 people
For hearts that require you to pull a monster out of the ground, let the other person pull, damage his pull, after it dies, pull it yourself. You can finish these hearts almost twice as fast.

I dont tend to wait for people, when i’m done, I’m done, and I’m off to the next area, but if someone is in the area with me doing the same thing i’m doing, ill be attacking his targets because its just much faster that way.

Armo.6208:

There is no need for me to group up, since i don’t do dungeons and i don’t see a point in grouping for DEs

This. In fact GW2 is set up so that just helping each other out when not being in a group is just the same as being in a group. So, there’s really never a reason (doing DEs or Hearts or such.) to group up.

Cheers.

I prefer playing with others. Yes, it might be faster doing hearts solo, but it’s more fun imo with other people. Chatting, telling war stories, etc. Plus, DEs are better with someone(s). My biggest problem is that I’ll spend an hour or 2 questing with someone, chatting, adding to friends….and then they’re like never on again or don’t respond to a pm 5 days later. So much for friends.

Playing alone for me was solidified through hours of playing the original GW1, as a kid(I was 13 when Prophecies came out). In the original GW1, the whole map was instanced, so you just took some henchmen/heroes with you and soloed just about everything with the exception of a few things.

I just prefer playing with people I know and then we tend to make groups of “friends of friends.”

Friends are overrated and just get you killed.

It sort of boils down to character goals and drive. If your goal is to get to lvl 80, farm mats, whatever, and you wanna get it done like yesterday and make your playtime as efficient as possible, then solo play caters to the majority of those activities unless there are clear reasons/advantages to partying up. Someone with goals, but no real care of getting them done quickly or effectively, is more likely to party up and just sort of shoot the breeze. Each method has a particular strength/weakness to it, but ultimately if players are having fun then it doesn’t matter.

I think it depends. I probably play 50% of the time alone, 50% of the time with people (usually guildies but sometimes with folks I grab at random on the map).

When I play alone it’s usually cause I’m either farming, or working on my world completion or just in a mood where I’m going to start and stop a lot. I was a single player game player for years and decades until I found GW2 and sometimes I just wanna do my own thing.

What I love about this game is the ability to opt in and out of multiplayer content when I want. Beyond dungeons and WvW if I don’t want to deal with other people I don’t have to and both those things are easily avoidable if I’m not in the mood.

I mostly play solo when I’m exploring because it doesn’t seem worth negotiating with strangers about a plan for what we’re going to do. If I end up doing the same thing as another player for awhile, that’s cool and I’m fine with their presence, but I see no reason to formally group up.

Things like hearts, DEs, and grabbing POIs go by so quickly that when I try to party up with people for them, we spend more time discussing what we’re going to do next than actually playing, or else we all go our separate ways anyway so we might as well not be a party in the first place.

If I’m going to do something social, I’d rather arrange to meet up with a guildmate, do a dungeon, or help someone with a story mission (although I rarely see anyone asking for that) where we have a clear objective, and aren’t trying to coordinate our own agendas for exploration.

Cod Eye.1632:

People solo because they don’t need to group up. Personally I prefer forced grouping like the way FFXI had it.

It created bonding, it cleaned out the players that wanted to be ers-ats and thought they could get away with it. It created a better community overall.

Problem with games becoming to casual is that they attract a larger audience which doesn’t mean its a better game, its just more accessible.

The reason why I had to quit FFXI was that I operated during when the US goes to sleep and JP starts to come out. Just couldn’t get anything done in the latter areas of aby.

GW2 so far, is letting me play solo. I still have to do more dungeons though. Anet should adjust the difficulty of the dungeons based on the number of players in the party. Sometimes hard to get all 5 players and usually just hang around until the party disbands. I don’t know why Anet decided not to do this when they wanted to break away from the problems that plagued the current mmos.

The GW2 experience overall is much better when sharing the process of exploration and learning. If your not just a little social you’re missing out. Anytime someone puts out the call for help I drop what I’m doing and come running. Take it from someone who in real life goes out of his way to avoid people, play in a group.

I do a good bit of content solo because sometimes I just don’t have the patience to deal with people.

So, if you use the logic “WELL WHY PLAY AN MMO?!?”

Because the game is still fun and I still like to do social things sometimes, even if I feel like being left alone other times.

Easy one . The way the game is set up . The more people killing a mob , the harder that mob is to kill . So , if your good and your partner isnt , you now have a weak link in your group ! Rarely have I seen anyone that snycs well with my playstlye ,so why not go solo !

because people are anti-social and/or they just don’t have any social skills at all. they should be playing single-player games, so that they don’t have to worry about us social heathens ruining their life by trying to be friendly.

Dahkeus.8243:

I do a good bit of content solo because sometimes I just don’t have the patience to deal with people.

So, if you use the logic “WELL WHY PLAY AN MMO?!?”

Because the game is still fun and I still like to do social things sometimes, even if I feel like being left alone other times.

yeah, love how they relate mmo to something like FB. Its social alright, but I don’t care if I have 1000 “fake” friends. Adults learn keep a distance in most relationships, and it works perfectly fine. When someone is in need of help, I just swing by and go away again.

Dahkeus.8243:

I do a good bit of content solo because sometimes I just don’t have the patience to deal with people.

So, if you use the logic “WELL WHY PLAY AN MMO?!?”

Because the game is still fun and I still like to do social things sometimes, even if I feel like being left alone other times.

I do fall a bit into your category. Whenever I tag along with someone I make sure to tell them to take their time and if they want read everything. The big thing I do is provide support without setting the pace. Some of the best drops I’ve gotten are from champs, and my squishy thief is not doing them alone

I’ll help people that ask for it in chat or if I see someone dying in front of me, but I won’t group up with strangers. I like to explore and talk to all the named NPCs to read their dialogue text and I know most players don’t care about them. Something that pisses me off is when I complete a heart before I can get to the heart NPC to talk to him. I hate not knowing the reason doing them and they just thank you if you talk to them after.

Maklin.9301:

ecad.9085:

Iam constantly asking people to team with me when I’m levelin up in areas and doing hearts etc…. only like 1 in 10 people wants too… but why??

It is soo much faster and easier to level up when ur in team instead of going at it alone. Also much more fun imo. Why so many lone-players?

Several reasons, actually….

1) I work around people all day. When I manage enough free time for a game, I want to be ALONE unless I am with a friend from outside of the game, then I will team, usually duo-only.
2) EVERYONE immediately starts sending URLS for voice chat. If I do not know you, odds are I will not go voice with you. I’ve never liked listening to people eat / sneeze / yell at kids-pets-SO / background TV … and that is Voice Chat in its purest form.
3) Not at all interested in small-talk, which the other person ALWAYS wants to do.
4) Downtime. Grouping is a steady stream of downtime….bathroom breaks, food breaks, phone calls, AFK, etc.

I tend to quietly skip group-required content / raiding, so I play most games until the ‘endgame uber alles’ mindset kicks in, then I go find another game to play until it too succumbs to the end game group-based loot treadmill.

Well people do tend to need to take breaks. Everyone needs to take a break. Unless you are planning on being the guy that played diablo for 40 hours then died.. Nobody should be looking down on anyone for having to take a small break.

Communication (chat) is awful. You hit Enter to type something and you STOP MOVING (thats the point where I tend to die the most).
It is extremely annoying and not worth my time. So I only team with people when we are all on one voicecomm.

[Edit] My reasons for soloing most of the content is totally not on par with you all’s reasons.

Reasons: 1. Being rude (I take time out of what I am doing to party with you to give you the help and you want to be rude to me?)

Reasons: 2. Being a jerk (It says it all)

Reasons: 3. Being a Elitist jerk ( You are not qualified to place judgement upon me, need I say more)

Reasons: 4. Being ungrateful (I took time out of my activities to help you out, you can at least acknowledge that and give a simple heartfelt thank you. Really that is all it is needed.

Reasons: 5. Being impatience (Slow down and smell the roses.. Who said you had to enjoy the content at lighting speed, in fact you’ll miss it.)

Reasons: 6. Selfish (Only thinking of yourself doing what you want to do, you never know what you will find just by doing what another wants to do for once.)

Reasons: 7. Disrespectful (Does not make you a very good human being and will not warrent you a invite to dinner… need I say more?)

Reasons: 8. Abuse (Name calling, insults are considered abuse in my eyes and I will report. I have no tolerances for it. It is cruel, demeaning and unacceptable. Who in their right mind would group up with someone that abuses another? Not I)

If you don’t elicit any of the above then you would make a great party memeber. Some of you people, really.. learn patience it is a virtue.

[Edited by CC: Insulting generalization]

[Edit] I enjoy doing dungeons, and those consist of playing with other people…but there’s little to no reason to run around with xXxTHEIFxXx while doing heart quests. No reason to wait around for him while he argues with his mom about taking out the trash. No reason to stick around in the heart area twice as long because he didn’t know to loot mobs to turn in the items. No reason to deal with his broken English and poor communication skills. It is just far more relaxing and satisfying to hit the road on your own.

[Edited by CC: Removed quote and reply to that removed quote]

Eladriel.7295:

Reasons: 5. Being impatience (Slow down and smell the roses.. Who said you had to enjoy the content at lighting speed, in fact you’ll miss it.)

If you read everyone’s responses, you would know that half the time, it’s that people want to go at their own pace, whether it’s faster OR slower, rather than be dictated to by a group. So they avoid the drama and just stay by themselves.

Frankly it’s none of my dang business why anyone would want to play solo or in a group at all times in an MMO. They paid for the game just like everybody else, they can play the way they want.